Pipe lowering clamp



Nov. 1l, 1952 c. L. KELso PIPE LowERING CLAMP Filed Jan. l5, 1951INVENTOR l 7a/'ence L /fe/so 4 BY l mmm/En Patented Nov. 11, 19,52

2,617,678 u PIPE LQWEBING CLAMP.` f

clarence L.- Kelso, oilton, vkm. u l Application January 15, 1951,Serial No. 206,025

enamelllike material and While the enamel is hot and relatively fluid,the pipe is wrapped with either: felt,4 paper or fibre-glass. This bindsthe enamel and after hardening thereof, the pipe is Afully coated andprotected against corrosion. Ilf: the enamel hardens properly; it isrelatively brittlev and if not sufficiently hardened at the time oflowering into the ditch, it is easilybroken orfmashed. A l Y 'u It isthe presentnpractice to utilize belts in the lowering process,- whichbelts are slipped unel der the pipe and the endsthereof hooked into acable emanating from a tractor boom for lifting thehpipe. Use `of beltsin this fashion is rather unsatisfactory for several reasons. "The v YbeltsV are diiiicult tohook and release from the boom,l place atremendous pressure onthe sides o ffthepipe when lifting the same, andare diflicult to be pulled from bottom of theA ditch.

invention therefore, to provide a clamp ythat may be used in connectionwith the pipe lowering boom capable of circumscribing the pipe to belowered in such manner as to tremendously speed up the-entire operationand do little if any damageto the aforesaid, eitherjbrittle orrelatively soft-.coatingon the pipe.` A`

Anotherimportant object of the present in-` videfa clamp havingswingablejaws as just aboveV indicated, together with a, `lockingmember inthejfzorm of a U,that is shiftable to and from agposition embracing,thejaws toholdl the same the pipe when it is at the yIt is the mostimportant `object ofthe present claims. (C1. 294-115) y spaced-apartpins 26 that slide along the edges` of the stems I4. A laterallyextending hook 28.

. 2 Y l in an operative position encircling the pipe to be handled. Y jY a It is still another object of y this invention to provide a meansfor moving the lockingmember to an inoperative position and holding thesame in such position while the clamp` is moved .toward and away from,the pipe being handled. u

v Other important objects include detailsof construction, all of whichwill be made clear orbe:

comeapparent as theiollowing specicationj progresses, reference beinghad tothe accom-` panying drawing, wherein:

Figure l is a side elevational view of a; pipe lowering clamp madepursuant to my present invention. i Y A i Fig. 2 is an edgeelevationalviewV thereof. Y,

Fig. `3 is a cross-sectionalviewY taken on line III-III of Fig. ilookingin the direction of' the arrows. Y i 1 Y Fig. 4 is a side elevationalView differing from Fig. 1 however.V in that the clamp isshownfin aninoperative position; and Y Fig. 5 is a cross-sectionalA view taken online VQ-V of' Fig. 4 looking in the direction of the arrows. Y c

As will hereinafter appeanthe clamp-hereof is designed tocompletelyencirclethepipe being handled and in this respect at least,differs from the clamp forming the subject matter of my co-.pendingapplication` Serial No. 45,696, filed August 23, 1948. This is acontinuation in partu of said co-pending application.

There is provided in the clamp of the presentinvention, a Supportbroadly designated by the numeral IU and including a pair of sections,the `main section whereof is in the form of a pair of identical vforksand designated by thenurneral` I2. Forks I2 are each provided with acentral; elongated, normally vertical stem I4 having asubstantially*semi-circular lowermost end de-L fined by a pair ofarcuate branches 16. The gup. permost ends of the stems I4 are joined byaboltl I8 i that passes through an elongated slot g ,20 Section,

formed in aisection 22 of support I0. 22 comprises an elongated barhaving an open-p` ing 24 atthe uppermost end thereof'and'disl'- posedbetween the stems I4 inthemanner illustrated in Figs. 2, Sand `5.Accordingly, the section 22 is slidable relative to the section I 2 andis guided along thestems I4 by a pair of is provided onl the supportingsection 22 adjacent the lowermost end thereof for reasons here-- uinafterto be made' more clear.

Vbranches I6 at the lowermost ends thereof. Lat,-

eral displacement of the locking member 38 as the same is reciprocatedfrom the positionillus'- trated in Fig. 4 to the position shownv inFigi. l, is prevented by the edges 34 riding along the pivot bolts 40and by a pair of spacedLapartLpns. 42 within the bight of lockingmember.. 3.8 and riding along the edges of, stems I4 in thel same manneras pins 26.

Each pin 40 respectively, swingablyycarries a jaw 44 having an arcuateinnermost* edge 4$-I Each jaw 44 comprises apair-of spacedeapart plates4'I,-each,of-which in turn includes'a/later'- ally extending ear -48-.The ears' 48 embrace the correspondingV branches I 6 as illustrated inFigs. 2. 3 and5 and receive the corresponding vpivot bolt-48. Each jaw44iis`provided with a substantially'triangularfshaped block 5I)A mountedbetween the plates 41-thereof below pivottbol't III-aridV disposed forengagement by thev corresponding edge 36 of legsl 32 whenthe lockingmembe're30 is moved toa position embracing the vja-ws'44 as illustratedin Fig. 1'. l

Each jaw 44 respectively is providedfwitha pair ofarcuate pads 52 and 54of rubberor other suitable material andV the supporting section I2islkewise provided with a similar` arcuate: pad 56 at the point ormerger between branches I6 and-at the lowermost edge thereof.

An- L-shaped trigger member 58Y is swingably mounted upon the lock 30 asat 68 adjacent one of the pins 42,- trigger'584 including a pair ofspaced-apart plates as illustrated inFig. 3 that embrace the lockingmember 38 at pivot 60 and are-joined by atop pla-te 62.

pin 64 yalso interconnects the two'aforesaid sid'e'plates of thetrger 58in spacedfparallelism t-tliepivot pinforengaging the/hook 28 inthe'xnanner illustrated by Fig. 4 of-'tlie drawing'y The pipeillustrated in thedrawing to be -en- ,gaged by the clamp just abovedescribed is-desig'- nated bythe numeral 66:

In operation. the clamp is-normallyl carried by ar hook, not shown,mounted upon the cable forme injg -va part-*of a boom and passingythrough the opening `24-of vsupporting section 22. With the trigger 58positioned vas illustrated in Fig." 4 of the. drawingvr and with pin6ft-engaging hook 28,' theY sections I2'and 22 of SupportIU, Will beextended while the clamp hangs from the boom and! the. locking member-38 will-be Ain a` retracted position with respect tojaws=-44. As lthe,clamp ishlloweredfro'rifrthe'-positiony illustrated in Fig. 4it'ow'ard`the pipe fthepaddings 52 'offjaws 44- will first eng/ag'e the pipe" 65'progressively swinging the jaws 44 on their pivots 48 to a posi-Y` tionencirc1ing-the`pipe^66 as shown-in Fig. 1. As the-boom is loweredstillfurther,-lock` 38' willl slide,downwardly-with' respect tdthe'ster'ns IIIV and the legs 32` thereof 'vwillslide between boltsandfbetweenthe branches I8 to a point where the: cam edges 36A of legs32 will engage the" outermost edgeofblocks 561. This action will assureswinging movement` of -the-.:jaws` 44 to a- Cil pipe-encirclingcondition and when the locking member 30 is in embracing relationship tothe blocks 58, outward swinging movement of the jaws 44 away from eachother on their pivot bolts 40, will be prevented.

It is seen that the edges of blocks 58 which engage edges 36 aredisposed substantially vertically and parallel when the locking member30 is in an.. operative. position holding the jaws 44 againstoutwards'winging' movement (seeV Fig. 1)

When the pad 56 comes into engagement with the pipe 66 during thelowering movement of the clamp as just described, section 22, trigger 58and thelock 38 all descend simultaneously with respect to thesupportingsection I2, pins 42 guiding the locking member 30 and pins 26 servingaszguides forthe'section 22 along the stems I4. As soon as pins 42 comeinto engagement with the branches I6 and the. lock 30 thereby reachesthe lowermost end of its path of travel, continued downward movement-ofthe section 2-2between the stems I4 causes the hook 223 tol moveout ofengagement with thev pin 64 of trigger 58 and the trigger 58 thereuponswings-by force of gravity to pivot pin Blowfrom the position'lillus-ytrated in'Fig. 4 of tl'iedrawing to the position shown-by Fig. 1where-top plate BZLen'gages the upper edge oflock 381.

member133 is'released from section` 22 and is inalocking"position-embracing the-blocks' 50, up-

ward movement of the-boom cable will again shift' the section 22upwardly with respect to section I2`-and by virtue of theL factthattrigger 58isf out of engagement with hooi; 28;` lock- 30Av will remain'in the operative position by its inherent weight.

As soon asthe lowermostend of slot-20-'engages the bolt I8, the entireclamp, together with they pipev-66`will be lifted fo-r'movement asdesired into aditchor other position. Su-iicient clear'-y anceisprovided asshown in Fig. 1 of the drawing tov cradle the pipe 66within the-jaws 44'and during the lifting action of the pipet'it'willrest upon the pads 54 and be spaced slightlyfrom the pad 56.

Assoon as-it is desired tof-releas'e*thev clamp' from the pipe-66,vrsection 22 -is Vlowered to' the position illustrated in Fig; 1 ofthedrawing, where hook 28 is in a position for receiving-pin- 64; Allthat the operator need do is to swing trigger 58 to the positionillustratedA in Fig. lof the drawing.V whereupon upward movement of-thesection- 22-'wil1 caus'e-hook-Zto engage tl'iefpin 64.

Cntinued upwargdiovement'ofthesection 22l with-respect tothe sectionI2'willrrst cause the locking-member 3'Il-t4 rise-to the position showirin Fig. 4, and as soon as the lowerm'ost fedgeof the slot 22 engagesbolt I8 andthehooks 38 engage thel bolts 48,-*s the entire'cl'amp'f may.be raised lfrom its position adjacent-pipe. They jaws 44 will-thereuponautomatically swing-'from' has beenY moved-to' a positinresting withinthe ditchV byjmerely swinging the-trigger 58 tolga positionwhere itwillbe received'by'tl'e'hook 28.*

After the jaws 44come into abutting engagement at the lowermostends'thereof, encircling pipef66l and after the lockingV and, it is apparentthat the operation for moving the clamp to a pipe-engaging position, cantake place without any operator attention whatsoever other than aligningthe clamp with respect to the pipe 66 since trigger 58 releasesautomatically as soon as the section 22 moves to the lowermost end ofits path of travel with respect to the stems I4 of support section I2.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new Iand desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a clamp, a fork having a pair of opposed branches; a jaw swingablycarried by each branch respectively; a locking member reciprocablymounted o-n the fork for movement to and from a position partiallyembracing the jaws; a support section shiftably mounted on the fork andprovided with a hook; and releasable means swingably mounted on thelocking member for movement to and from a position engaging said hook onthe support section, whereby to move the locking member out of embracingrela-tionship with the jaws as the support member is shifted in onedirection relative to the fork.

2. In a clamp, a fork having a pair of opposed branches, each providedwith a pivot bolt; a jaw swinga'bly carried by each bolt respectively; aU-shaped looking member having a `pair of opposed legs between the boltsin sliding engagement therewith and mounted on the fork for movement toand from a position in parti-al embracing engagement with the jaws; anda hook on each leg respectively for engagement with said bolts wherebyto lift the fork and the jaws as the locking member is moved in onedirection relative to the fork.

3. In la clamp, a fork `having a pair of opposed `branch-es, eachprovided with a pivot bolt; a jaw swingably carried by each boltrespectively; a U-shaped locking member having a pair of opposed legsbetween the bolts in sliding engagement therewith and mounted on thefork for movement to and from a position in partial ernbracingengagement with the jaws; a support section shiftably mounted on thefork and p-rovided with a hook; and releasable means swingably mountedon the locking member for movement to and from a position engaging saidhook on the support section, whereby to move the locking member out orembracing relationship with the jaws as the support member is shifted inone direction relative to the fork.

4. In a clamp, .a fork having a pair of opposed branches, each providedwith a pivot bolt; a jaw swingaibly carried by each bolt respectively; aU-shaped locking member having a pair of opposed legs between the boltsin sliding engagement therewith and mounted on the fork for movement toand from a position in partial embracing engagement with the jaws; ahook on each leg respectively for engagement with said bolts whereby tolift the fork and the jaws as the locking member is moved in onedirection relative to the fork; -a support section shiftably mounted onthe fork and provided with a hook; andreleasable means swingably mountedon the locking member for movement to and from a position engaging sai-dhook on the support section, whereby to move the locking member out ofembracing relationship with the jaws as the support member is shifted inone direction relative to the fork.

5. In a clamp, a fork having a vertical stem provi-ded with a pair ofopposed branches; a jaw swingably carried by each branch respectively; alocking member mounted o-n said stem for vertical reciprocation thereonto an-d from a position partially embracing said jaws; a support sectionmounted on said stem for vertical reciprocation thereon; a hook on thesupp-ort section; means on the locking member engageable with said hook;hook means on the locking member; and means on the fork engageable withsaid hook means, whereby as the support section is raised it will raisethe looking member and the latter will raise the fork and the jawsthereon.

CLARENCE L. KELSO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent: v

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 941,558 Cloak Nov. 30, 19091,760,885 Prelesnik June 3, 1930 `2,544,142 Dritley Mar. 6, 1951

